The Changing Scene opened to great fanfare in downtown Rochester in August 1977 as the first revolving restaurant in New York state.

The restaurant featured the best public views of the city from its 21st-floor perch atop the First Federal Building. It was said that you could see the Bristol Hills on a clear day.

The rotating appeal came with its quirks.

"You can't put your drink on the window ledge while you chat with your dinner partner," a Democrat and Chronicle editorial stated. "You won't see the drink again until an hour later, and by then the ice will melt. You also have to watch where you put your purse."

The windows, ledges and central core remained stationary, while a 10-foot-wide section of the outer floor rotated. People sometimes got lost on the way back from the bathroom.

A Greece couple who had the high bid in a Channel 21 auction brought 20 friends along for the "pre-opening" inaugural meals. They enjoyed a seven-course meal and were particularly fond of the Beluga caviar pie and figs wrapped in ham.

"This is the dining place Rochester has been waiting for," a Times-Union preview stated days before the grand opening. "It is a wonderful table game to watch Rochester spread out below you, the landmarks slipping slowly past … Indeed, the sight of our city sparkling out to the horizon may do more to end apologies for Rochester than any Chamber of Commerce gimmick."

Even the ride up, in a glass-enclosed exterior elevator, was spectacular. The place was reportedly serving 1,600 to 1,700 dinners per week by November 1977.

James Foley, who had operated the Top of the Plaza restaurant at Midtown, was brought in as manager. He boasted of his "$40,000 chef," Victor Castaldo. Within two months, though, Castaldo quit.

"It was a classic clash: A chef's artistic sensibilities vs. a manager's business instincts," Bob Marcotte wrote in a 2010 Democrat and Chronicle story. "Foley wanted the food prepared faster, particularly at lunch, and Castaldo didn't want to be hurried. Foley wanted prime rib on the menu, Castaldo didn't. And so on."

A new chef was hurriedly hired. That was the first of many changes at the Changing Scene.

By 1979, Foley was gone. First Federal didn't renew his lease and instead signed on with Davre's, a division of the huge ARA Services, the second-largest food service company in the U.S.

The Changing Scene was always known best for its views rather than its food or service. Monroe County Legislator Paul Haney, a former City Council member, remembered when Mayor Tom Ryan brought officials from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development there in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The visit did not go well.

"After over an hour and a half, the HUD people had to leave to go to a meeting," Haney recalled in the Marcotte column. "Less than a third of the people had been fed. Mayor Ryan was mortified! I remember him coming back to City Hall and announcing in his inimitable style that 'I'll never go back to that damned place again!' "

The restaurant went through eight general managers in five years. Menus were changed. Davre's was replaced by Marriott's Service Systems in 1985. As Kathy Lindsley wrote in a 1985 Times-Union story, "No one has ever complained about the scenery. But somehow, the restaurant has never quite lived up to its lofty site."

The Changing Scene closed in 1988 and was converted to office space, but it's now vacant, said Sharon Jermyn, office manager for First Federal Plaza. The last tenant was lawyer Christina Agola, who moved out about a year or so ago, Jermyn said.

Rochester's experience with a revolving restaurant lasted only 11 years. But at the beginning, at least, what a whirlwind it was.

Morrell is a freelance writer from Rochester.

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About this feature

"Whatever Happened To? ..." is a feature that explores favorite haunts of the past and revisit the headlines of yesteryear. It's a partnership between RocRoots.com and "Join if you're from Rochester New York" on Facebook.

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